MORE ABOUT THIS BOOK

Main description:

The authors of The Perfect Meal examine all of the elements that contribute to the diner s experience of a meal (primarily at a restaurant) and investigate how each of the diner s senses contributes to their overall multisensory experience. The principal focus of the book is not on flavor perception, but on all of the non–food and beverage factors that have been shown to influence the diner s overall experience.

Examples are:

the colour of the plate (visual)

the shape of the glass (visual/tactile)

the names used to describe the dishes (cognitive)

the background music playing inside the restaurant (aural)

Novel approaches to understanding the diner s experience in the restaurant setting are explored from the perspectives of decision neuroscience, marketing, design, and psychology.

Back cover:

The authors of The Perfect Meal examine all of the elements that contribute to the diner s experience of a meal (primarily at a restaurant) and investigate how each of the diner s senses contributes to their overall multisensory experience. The principal focus of the book is not on flavor perception, but on all of the non–food and beverage factors that have been shown to influence the diner s overall experience.

Examples are:

the colour of the plate (visual)

the shape of the glass (visual/tactile)

the names used to describe the dishes (cognitive)

the background music playing inside the restaurant (aural)

Novel approaches to understanding the diner s experience in the restaurant setting are explored from the perspectives of decision neuroscience, marketing, design, and psychology.

Contents:

Foreword xi

1 Introducing the Perfect Meal 1

1.1 Introduction 1

1.2 A brief history of culinary movements 2

1.3 The search for novelty and surprise 8

1.4 The brain on flavour 12

1.5 Food and the perception of everything else 16

1.6 Gastrophysics: the new science of the table 18

1.7 Food perception is fundamentally multisensory 21

1.8 Isn t modernist cuisine only for the lucky affluent? 22

1.9 Amuse bouche 25

References 27

2 Let the Show Commence: On the Start of the Perfect Meal 37

2.1 Introduction 37

2.2 On the social aspects of dining 42

2.3 On the design of the menu 47

2.4 Conclusions 62

References 62

3 Tastes Great, But What do We Call It? The Art and Scienceof Food Description 71

3.1 Introduction 71

3.2 Snail porridge 73

3.3 Can labelling enhance the taste and/or flavour of food? 77

3.4 Interim summary 81

3.5 On the neuroscience of naming food 81

3.6 Naming names 84

3.7 Does food labelling influence the perceived ethnicity of a dish? 85

3.8 Natural and organic labels 87

3.9 Health/ingredient labels 88

3.10 Local labels 90

3.11 Descriptive food labelling 91

3.12 Labelling culinary techniques 92

3.13 Surprise! 95

3.14 Expectations and reactions 96

3.15 Conclusions 98

References 100

4 Plating and Plateware: On the Multisensory Presentationof Food 109

4.1 Introduction 109

4.2 A potted history of food presentation 111

4.3 The plate: the essential element of our everyday meal 115

4.4 Interim summary 128

4.5 The plate that is not a plate 128

4.6 On the multiple contributions of the visual appearance of a dish 135

PRODUCT DETAILS

MEET THE AUTHOR

Charles Spence is Professor of Experimental Psychology and Head of the Crossmodal Research Laboratory in the Department of Experimental Psychology at Oxford University.

Betina Piqueras–Fiszman was Consumer and Sensory Researcher at the Crossmodal Research Laboratory in the Department of Experimental Psychology at Oxford University and is currently Assistant Professor in the Department of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour at Wageningen UR.